This week has been illuminated by the long awaited news of the new album by Josep Carreras the emblematically titled "25 - Meraviglioso", which firstly refers to the 25 years of his comeback to life and profession, and then to the beautiful song made ​​popular by Domenico Modugno, which he has made a version too, included in the disc. In this regard, I would like to propose today something in topic, that in some way refer to the past but to the present as well: in fact, this is a song that Josep Carreras recorded in one of his latest albums, and has recently included again in his concerts and recitals repertoire.

The album I am talking about is Belle Epoque, presented on 10 March 2006 with a special gala at the Konzerthaus in Vienna, in which Carreras was accompanied by Lorenzo Bavaj and the Junge Philharmonie Wien, conducted by Michael Lessky: all of them contributed to the making of the disc. Recorded partly in Barcelona and partly in Vienna, Belle Epoque is a cultural aspect shared by both cities: with reference to Barcelona you can not but mention the work of Antoni Gaudí, while Secession and Klimt are the key words associated to Vienna, considered the capital of the movement together with Paris.

As he had always been interested in this era and its cultural implications, our tenor wanted to analyze the music of this very period: in this way, he selected some pieces of different composers, some new for him, others much more familiar such as Francesco Paolo Tosti, who had always been part of his repertoire .

Today I choose the second track on the disc, Je te veux, a song by French composer Erik Satie with lyrics by Henry Pacory. Satie made ​​several versions, for voice and piano and for orchestra as well. It was performed in public for the first time at La Scala, and there have been a lot of opera singers to have interpreted and recorded it: in addition to Josep Carreras, we can mention Nicolai Gedda, Jessye Norman and Angela Gheorghiu.In Belle Epoque album, has been arranged by Christian Kolonovits: you can notice in this delightful waltz, made up of only two verses and chorus repeated three times, opening, mid and closing, Josep makes use of his impeccable phrasing, refined and captivating as ever, of his effective control and excellent diction, in a correct and fascinating French.Of course, in the album we have a solo version, while in his most recent concerts we could listen to it as duet with Anita Hartig, in his memorable concert at the Staatsoper in Vienna on 15 September, and with Celine Byrne in two recitals in Ireland on 17 and 20 October. Although, I must admit it, I like more a scene where Josep is the only protagonist, perhaps the duo puts further emphasis on the romantic nature of the song, but the version of the album is really extraordinary, and you can listen to it here. I really like it a lot, and I hope that you will be able to listen to it live, if you are to attend some of Josep's upcoming concerts: in the meantime, enjoy it!!I hope you have appreciated my proposal of today. See you next Sunday with a new video. Have a nice week!!